Monthly Archives: June 2015

Last week, we had a great turnout. Despite the high temperature, we saw
several new faces as well as our faithful customers. For those that
aren’t aware, we do offer free water and lemonade; we gave out ten
gallons of lemonade last week. This week, Bill Woodard will be with us
to sharpen knives, mower blades and other tools. The parks and
recreation department and chamber of commerce are sponsoring the
children’s petting zoo. Our young entrepreneurs Sofia (11 years old)
and Savanna (7 years old), Sister’s Go Bananas, will be selling frozen
blueberry popsicles, frozen chocolate covered bananas w/ chopped
peanuts, and plain frozen chocolate covered bananas. Wanda Gray,
Sweetpeas Catering and Events, will be making up chicken salad lunch
baskets and turkey lunch boxes with bread or crackers aside and a
desert. She’ll be selling small containers of pimento cheese along with
her other delicious baked goods. Lucy Siddiqui, Youth Services Head,
from Gardendale Martha Moore Public Library, will be reading children’s
stories at 1 PM under the stage roof.

Next week, July 2nd, we’re celebrating Independence Day, early, by
having a “Recognition of Veterans” starting at noontime. Attending are
the Air National Guard Color Guard, Marine Corps League doing the Iwo
Jima reenactment, Gardendale’s Tiera Leftwich singing the National
Anthem, Chaplain Keith Taylor will speak regarding his tour in Iraq, and
other military guests. Following the event, a meal will be served to
any veteran and spouse served by our sponsor Good Shepherd Luther
Church. If you know any veteran, please tell them about this.

Bill Woodard will be attending sharpening knives, lawn mower blades and
other tools, and America’s First Credit Union will have their mobile ATM
unit available. Lucy Siddiqui will be reading patriotic children’s
stories at 1 PM.

We look forward to seeing “all y’all”, and we appreciate your patronage.

We’ve been getting questions regarding when water melons, cantaloupe,
corn, and other produce will be in season. I’ve been informed that
water melons and cantaloupes should be coming within the next week or
two. Tomatoes are starting to be ready for harvest, and some corn is
now being sold. The produce that’s been selling is blackberries,
blueberries, peaches, squash, string beans, broccoli, okra, plums, and
some winter greens. Most of the winter greens are near their end with
the hot temperatures. There’s honey, fried pies, jams and jellies, chow
chow, and other baked goods. Our two entrepreneurs, Sisters Go Bananas
Sofia (11years old) and Savanna (7 years old), sold crushed frozen
blueberry pops last week and will be selling crushed blackberry pops
this week along with their frozen chocolate covered bananas. W & W
farms will not be with us for a couple of weeks. This means that there
will be no USDA meats. This week, Patti Gaines, AL Power for Clean Air,
will have a booth to share her cause. Lucy Siddiqui, Head of Youth
Service at the Martha Moore Public Library, will be doing story reading
for children at 1 PM. This week will be about farms and greens such as
broccoli, cabbage, etc.

Next week, June 25th, the petting zoo will be here thanks to the
Gardendale Recreation Dept. and Gardendale Chamber of Commerce. Bill
Woodard will be sharpening knives, mower blades, and other tools.

On July 2nd, we’re having a “Recognition of Veterans” with the Air Force
National Guard Color Guard; a local 17 year old, Tiera Leftwich, singing
the National Anthem; Chaplain Keith Taylor, Navy retiree and now working
at the Birmingham VA, speaking about his tour in Iraq; and the closing
will be the Marine Corps Auxiliary doing the Iwo Jima reenactment with
taps. The mayor and city council president will MC, and several guests
have been invited and will be introduced. The event will start at high
noon.

Also, Bill Woodard will be present sharpening knives, mower blades, and
other tools, and America’s First Credit Union will have their mobile ATM
unit available.

Wow! What a difference a day makes. The first two weeks were slow and
yesterday was perfect. We had a gorgeous day; the weather was
beautiful, people were patiently milling around prior to the opening, we
saw many of our usual customers and well as several new ones, children
were howling and laughing bouncing in the inflatable, and for the first
time, we had children’s story reading. Lucy Siddiqui, Youth Services
Head with the Gardendale Martha Moore Public Library, read a story about
strawberries. She had a show and tell strawberry for the children to
see (there will be no treating of produce due to possible allergies).
In the future, she will bring some sort of vegetable or fruit and
incorporate her readings accordingly. The readings will take place
every Thursday, at 1 PM, on the stage until school starts. We thank
those of you that have been supporting our young entrepreneurs Sofia (11
years old) and Savanna (7 years old) Holliman, Sisters Go Bananas, by
purchasing their frozen chocolate covered bananas. We had some surprise
guests from Jim N Nicks Restaurant giving out cheese biscuits. We
really appreciate the support everyone gave us and we look forward to
serving the public until the end of September.

This coming week, Judy Bee’s Honey and Berries will be returning. We’ve
been informed that the bees are producing honey overtime and that the
black berries are now ripe. W&W Farm should be returning with their
non-GMO produce and USDA meats. Wanda Bell, Sweet Treats, is still
recuperating from surgery and is planning on returning whenever she’s
back to par. One of our sponsors, America’s First Credit Union will
have a mobile ATM at the market. In the near future, there’ll be more
information regarding our planned “Recognition of Veterans” planned for
July 2nd. Until then, have a great week.

We’re trying something new with having Lucy Siddiqui, Youth Services
Head from the Gardendale Martha Moore Library, do children’s story
reading every Thursday at 1 PM. This way, the parent/s can do some
shopping while their children are being read to.

Last week’s storm raised some havoc with us. There was so much water
flowing, it resembled some of the flooding going on in TX. Due to the
weight of the water on the canvases of the canopies, five collapsed.
Four of them were next to each other and it resembled the aftermath of
the April ’11 tornadoes. We will be back in business tomorrow though.

Some of you have been asking when Bill Woodard, our knife, tool, and
mower blade sharpener will be returning. We have him scheduled for June
25th and July 2nd. America’s First Credit Union, one of our sponsors,
will have a mobile ATM at the market on June 11th. We’re planning on
having a special veteran’s recognition on July 2nd; keep watching for
further details. Please come out and support our growers and vendors.